1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for transmitting burst signals in a radio communication system, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for appropriately-dividing and/or combining the burst signals to be transmitted, and for transmitting the burst signals only during a period when the radio transmission path condition is fine, on the basis of the radio transmission path condition between a transmitting station and a receiving station, and of the transmission waiting status of burst signals at the transmitting station.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a conventional method for transmitting burst signals in the radio communication system, International Publication WO01/48952A1 discloses controlling transmission availability of burst signal.
This measures a time-averaged condition and an instantaneous condition on the radio transmission path between the transmitting station and the receiving station, and controls the burst signal transmission to be available only when the instantaneous condition is better than the time-averaged condition in order to reduce peak transmission power or average transmission power and thereby to reduce power consumption at the transmitting station and interference to other receiving stations.
However, the above conventional method performs the burst signal transmission availability control in units of a burst signal. Thus, it causes a problem in that, in the case in which the variation cycle between fine/not fine conditions of the radio transmission path is shorter than the burst signal length, the signal may be transmitted under the circumstances that the transmission path condition is not fine.
For example, in the case of performing the above conventional transmission availability control using measured instantaneous value of path loss variation as a parameter indicating the radio transmission path condition, or in the case in which the measured instantaneous value of path loss varies quickly and a period for transmission allowed is shorter than the burst signal length, only a period where the measured instantaneous value of path loss variation is large (i.e. where it is determined that the transmission path condition is relatively better) may be insufficient to complete the transmission of burst signal. Then, the burst signal has to be transmitted not only during the period under better condition but also during a period where the measured instantaneous value of path loss variation is small (i.e. where it is determined that the transmission path condition is relatively worse), reducing advantages of the transmission availability control.
Also, the above conventional burst signal transmission availability control causes another problem in that it keeps operating the processes associated with this control even when the variation cycle of the transmission path condition is very short, and thereby the resultant advantages are decreased.
Further, the above conventional burst signal transmission availability control causes another problem in that, in the case in which the variation cycle of the transmission path condition is very long, a transmission unavailable period is caused to be long, and thereby the transmission waiting time for the burst signals to be transmitted, which are accumulated during such transmission unavailable period, will be long, and large delay will occur.
Thus, according to the conventional transmission availability control, since the control is performed in units of the burst signal, and is always performed regardless of how long the variation cycle of the transmission path condition is, it may be possible that the advantages to be obtained by the control cannot be sufficiently obtained.